Generation of power.



J. ROBINSON.

GENERATION OF POWER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-16, I913- Patented May 9, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII c0., WASHINGTON, n, c.

J.. ROBINSON.

GENERATION OF POWER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 16. 1913.

Patented May 9,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\X/ITIJEEEE 5:

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (20., WASHINGTON, D. c.

1. e. ROBINSON.

GENERATION OF POWER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 16. 1913.

Patented May 9, 1916.

3 $HEETSSHEET 3 THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 00., WASHINGTON. D. c.

enivnaarron or, rowan.

To all whom it may concern I Be it kno'wnthat I, JorrN Rosi'wson, a

citizen of the United States, and a'resident' of Melrose, in the county of Middlesex and I State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Generation of Power, of which the following is a specification. i l

My invention relates to the generation of power and more particularly to systems of power-generation whereby water is raised I from a lower to a higher level by atmospheric pressure acting against the vacuum created by the condensation of steam.

The object of my invention primarilyiis to provide means whereby the energy of steam may be converted into the energy of motion without the employment of the usual steam cylinder, piston, etc, as required by the ordinary steam engine, and torimpro've the construction and increase the eiiiciency of such systems in the manner hereinafter set forth. i

By means of the present invention, the pump being continuous in operation without the use of an air chamber, water is always flowing up through the main intake pipe and down through the main outlet pipe, thereby eliminating the periods of no-flow.

l/Vater-wheels may therefore be arranged to be operated by thestream of water flowing in either or both pipes, and if two such wheels are employed, one in each pipe, it is possible to obtain, with a givenhead, the

same power that would be obtained with twice such head were a single wheel employed. i

My invention will be more fully disclosed by reference to the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view; Fig. 2 is a vertical SeCtlOIl of one of the governedtanlrs; Fig. '3 is averticalsection of the governing tank; Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an elevation, and Figs. 6 and 7 are sections through the water-wheel casings in the inlet and outlet pipes respectively,

In the particular drawings selected for more fully'disclosing my invention, 1 represents a series of tanks, herein shown as four in number, which I shall call governed tanks, and 2 represents a tank of slightly larger size, herein called the governor tank; Ari-intake pipe 3 is providedas shown with branch pipes a, each of which communicates with the upper portion of a tank and p Patented lilay 9, 1916.. Application filed. September 16, 1913. SerialNo. 790,009.

the bottoms of the tanks communicate with 1 outlet pipes i, all of which in turn are oined to the main outlet pipe 4:. A pipe 5 communicating with a suitable source of steam is provided with branch pipes 5,

each of which communicates with a suitable part of the tank, herein shown as the bottom;

Referring more particularly to Figs. 3 andl, the governor tank is provided with a float 6, preferably of considerable weight and made hollow as shown so as to have the necessarybuoyancy. Any suitable means, such as the upright rods 7 passing through the float, may be employed for guiding the latter. Horizontally-extending arms 9, 9' are pivoted a suitable distance apart to the upright standards 8 8' respectively which rise from the float. The arms 9 rest upon the brackets 10 and the arms 9, which are weighted at their outside ends, have their inner ends resting against the lower edges of the brackets 10. The chain 11 passing over the sprocket wheels 11 on the axles 12, is provided with two horizontallyextending strikers 11" arranged a distance apart substantially equal to one-half of the circumference of the sprocket wheels 11.

A chain 13 passes around the sprocket wheels 13' on the axles 14, 14:, andthe face of the upper sprocket wheel 13 is provided with a plurality of pins 16 at right angles thereto, arranged tocooperate with aplu rality of sets of teeth 15, as many sets as of the chain 11 and lie at right angles to the strikersll".

As the water rises in the governor tank, the lower arm 9 will come in contact with. the lower striker 11; as shown in Fig. 4, and will cause the chain to move and rotate the sprocket wheels 11, 11 in a counter clockwise direction.

When the tank is nearly filled, the upper striker 11 will have passed around the upper sprocket wheel 11 and past the weighted arms 9' which yield thereto, and just prior to the opening of the valve 38 which empties the tank, said upper striker 11" will be immediately below thelower arm 9. The float now descends and the lower arm 9 being in contact with that striker, which "in the position shown in Fig. i is'the there are tanks, which project from the side upper striker,will cause the chain to continue its movement and the'sprocket wheels 11 to continue their counter-clockwise rotation, in the course of which movementthe striker shown in Fig. i as the lower striker 11" will pass below the upperjarm 9. In

like manner just before the emptying operation is completed, one of the strikerswill have passed around to the righthand side U yield to it, sothat when the tank begins to fill andthe float begins'to rise, the strikers of the chain 11 and past the arms 9' which and the arms '9 will occupy the relative posi:

'tions shown in Fig. 4. i In short, by theintermittent filling and" emptying of the gov ernor tank, the chain 11 iskept in continuous motion and the sprocket wheels 11", rotate continuously in a counter-clockwise direction. I J r In the present instance where there are five tanks, the five sets of teeth 15, equi-r distantly spaced along the chain 11 will cause the sprocket wheels 13 to rotate inter- :niittently whenever a setof teeth co6per-,

ates with the pins 16. Theresulting revolution or partial revolutionof the axle li to i which the upper sprocket wheel18; is secured ,will cause a similar intermittent rota tion of the pinion 20, fixed to theupright shaft 19, through the intermediary of the bev- V ,eled gears'l'? andlS. j The pinion 20 meshes 1 with gear teeth 21 formed on the inner face of thewheel 22, and it will be understood, that the entire inner periphery of the wheel 22 is provided with such teeth, although for pin 26 tank of air'andto admit steam from the branch steam-pipes 55 as hereinafter more fully explained. V v r a Each of the governed tanks 1, aswell as the governing tank 2, is provided with a chain 3l which pa sses around the sprocket wheels 31" and carries the strikers 32, 32. By means ofthe' pin and cross-head connec-fl tion 34, .35, the valve 38 is opened vand I closed to empty the tank and by the pin and cross-head connection 36, 37, thevalve 39 is opened and held openfor anappropriate period for the purpose ofbreaking the vac:

,uum. Each Y of the governed tankshasa I float '6, which may be guided by the rodsl 7 or other approp'riatemeans, r One arrangement for converting thehead,

of water obtained by the vacuum pump into the inlet and outlet pipes are provided with power is shown in Figs. 5, 6 and/7, in which 7 water-Wheel housings 40, i1, respectively,

each containing a water-wheel d0" 41" mounted on the shaft, 42 and reversely' ar-' ranged, so that water passmg up the pipe 8 and down the pipe 4 will cause the wheels to. rotate in the same direction; I I I 7 A reservoir, whlchmay be e1ther'natural r or artificial, is shown 2113 43. I I I The operation is as follows: {lhe wheel 22 isturned manually to effect a, complete revolution of thepinion25 on the governor tank, which results first in opening the valves 29 and '30 ofsaid tank, andpermit tingthe steam'to fill thetank and expel the",

air therefrom as long as the valves areopen,

-andthen,in closing said valves with there I sulting formation of a vacuum n the tank. p

The vacuum will cause the water in the reservoir to flow up through the pipe and into the governor tank byway of the 'particular branch3 which leads thereto, wheres upon the-float 6 will begin to rise as above set torth and put the endless chain 11 into "mot on. "In order to prevent the vacuum; created in the governor or in any of the governed tanks from being dissipated: by,

way ofthe branch pipes '3 into anyof the I I I other tanks, each'of said branch pipes 3 mayberprovided with" a check valve 3 opening upward so as not to retard the r passage of water through c said branch pipe, into the tank inwhichit isrd'esigned to flow,

but remaining seated when the vacuum created in anyother tank exerts, its influence j '1 r thereon Before the tank is filled, theco- F abovefset forth, and motion will be transmitted to the wheel 22, which in turn will,

'opelation of 'the teethlfiand pins 16 will": "cause the sprocket wheel! 13" to rotate as successively operate the r d v 26 and the valves 29 and 30 of thegovernedtanks, so,

that steam successively will be admitted i thereto and vacuums formed therein, For example, the governor tank and'the two gov,- 1 I ern'ed tanks to the right thereof may be fill i ing at the same time, thef'governortank be- I i.ngcompletely filled at the moment the next tank is three-quarters fulland'the second tank therefronr one qua'rter' full. As soon as the-float? in the governortank strikes the lugs 82, the sprockets 31 will be turnedina 5 counter-clockwise direction and the valves 38, 39 will be opened. The opening'of the I I a valve 39 breaks the vacuum, and as will be obvious, this "valve/will beheld open by, the pin and crosshead connection untilthe float comes in contact with the striker 32" f in a clockwise direction. As 'soona's'the and causes the chainto rotate ,the'sprocket valve 38 is opened, the governor tank begins pipe 4 and when theilevel of the, water'is such as to bring then e-t again in contact emptyinginto the branch i of the outlet' by the cooperation of their floats 6 and the strikers on their chains 31. I

It Will be obvious that the various parts may be so designed and arranged as to obtain a continuousflow of Water up the pipe.

3 and down the pipe 4. For example, when the governor tank is full and about to discharge, the Watenmay be rising inthe next tank and the tank be about three-quarters full; the Water may be rising in the third tank and this about one-quarter full; the steam may be entering the fourth tank in order to form the vacuum, and the fifth tank may be emptying and be about one-half full. At the next instant the governor tank may be emptying, the next tank full, the third. tank three-quarters full, the vacuum in the fourth tank completely formed and Water rising therein, etc.

If necessary, the vertical rod 19 may have secured to it an inverted conical or semispherical shell 45, the lower edges of which extend into a circular groove in the top of the governor tank, and this groove may be filled With oil, mercury, or other suitable fluid, so as to prevent the entrance of air into the tank When the vacuum is formed by Way of the bearing of the rod 19 in the top of the tank.

It Will be understood of course that I do not limit myself to any particular number of tanks and have chosen five as a convenient number for illustrating the principle of my invention, although it Would seem probable that five is the minimum number that may be employed to advantage. H

Preferably a valve 44:, opening upward, is placed in the inlet pipe for the purpose of keeping that portion of the pipe above the valve always filled with Water.

I claim: I I

1. In combination, a reservoir, a plurality of tanks arranged above said reservoir, a pipe connection between said tanks and reservoir, an outlet pipe communicating With each tank, means for creating a vacuum in said tanks successively whereby continuous streams of ater are caused to flow up and down said pipe connection and said outlet pipe respectively, an-energy-translating device in said pipe-connection, an energy translating device in said outlet pipe, and means mechanically connecting said energytranslating devices, said energy-translating devices being simultaneously operated by the ascending and descending streams of Water respectively.

2. In combination, a reservoir, a steam vacuum pump arranged above said reservoir, a pipe connectionbetween said pump and reservoir, an outlet pipe for said pump, said pump being so designed that continuous streams of Water are caused to flow up and down said pipe connection and said outlet pipe respectively, an energy-translating device in said pipe connection, an energy-translating device in said outlet pipe, and means mechanically connecting said energy-translating devices, said energytranslating devices being simultaneously operated by the ascending and descending streams of Water respectively.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 15th day of Sep-,

tember, 1913.

JOHN G. ROBINSON.

Witnesses:

13. B. TOMLINSON, Gno. K. VVoonWoR'rH.

topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner or Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

